Our Mission

The Mission of the Institute is to provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write in order to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to national defense.

Editor's Page

In early August, during the first hour of my first day back in the office after a week's vacation, our communications director, Chas Henry, burst into my office in a state of visible excitement. "How would you like to spend a few days on an aircraft carrier?" he asked. "When do we leave?" I replied. After remembering to tell my understanding wife we'd have to give our planned weekend company a wave-off, Chas and I left for Norfolk, Virginia, and then a flight out to the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75).

While last year's PBS documentary Carrier provided a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at life on board one of these floating cities, there really is no substitute for being there and experiencing the sights, sounds, smells, and feel of carrier flight operations by day or by night. From the moment we caught the three wire until we were catapulted back off (both experiences worth trying at least once), Captain Joe Clarkson and his Sailors made us feel welcome every minute, despite their busy schedules. Admittedly, during my time in the Air Force I gave my share of tours, and I know you always put your best foot forward with visitors. Even so, you can't leave a carrier without being impressed not only with the technology, but also with the people who make it go, whether down in the ordnance shop or up in the air boss's perch. It's even more impressive to think of these folks doing their jobs through long days on a six- or seven-month deployment in the heat of the Persian Gulf. So to Captain Clarkson and the fine crew of the Harry S. Truman , let me say thanks again for the hospitality and offer a hearty "Bravo Zulu!"

The efficacy of aircraft carriers, especially the large nuclear-powered ones operated by the U.S. Navy, is one of those evergreen topics that partisans for and against are always eager to debate in our pages. Arguments against include high cost and, as Dr. Andrew Erickson and David Yang pointed out in our May issue, vulnerability to potential new weapon systems such as China's DF-21 antiship ballistic missile. This month's naval aviation coverage kicks off with Rear Admiral Terry Kraft coming to the flattops' defense. He reminds us of the many advantages these vessels possess over stationary land bases. They provide not only persistence and presence but, as recent negotiations over the use of airbases overseas have shown, carriers don't need host-country permission to operate. And so the debate begins anew. . . .

In past years we have devoted a number of issues to spotlighting developments in military medicine. With this year's Defense Forum Washington approaching (16 September), we felt it was time to revisit this important topic. Cosponsored with the Military Officers Association of America, the conference's theme is "Coping with Unseen Injuries: From Battlefield to Homefront." While post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury are just beginning to be recognized as major issues among troops returning from combat, behavioral problems that apparently stem from intense combat experiences and multiple combat tours are increasingly coming to the fore. Frequent contributor Art Pine takes a look at the scope of these mental disorders in "Getting Inside their Heads."

In addition, Lieutenant Colonel Glen Butler, a previously published Proceedings author, boldly takes on what he considers to be a noble idea gone a little haywire. He applauds the establishment of a Wounded Warrior Regiment in the Marine Corps, a move emulated by the other services, but says we need to rethink what exactly the term "wounded warrior" means. This is a tough article, and it ruffled a few feathers on our editorial board. I'm sure it will with some of our readers as well.

On the heels of Barrett Tillman's "Fear and Loathing in the Post-Naval Era" in the June issue, Coast Guard Captain R. B. Watts, a previous Proceedings essay contest winner, raises the bar another notch for the Navy's strategic planners. Building on a thesis that we're sure some will say borders on blasphemy, Watts takes on the world strategic view of none other than one of the Sea Services' most revered gurus, Alfred Thayer Mahan. While the turn-of-the-century naval philosopher's outlook might have fit the big-Navy, blue-water approach favored during the Cold War, today's threats and challenges, Watts says, render what was once known as American sea power as a mere shadow of its former self. We'd better gear the force to the threat and leave Mahan's idea of sea power to the history books, he says. Stand by for incoming, Captain Watts.